I'm shooting a wedding this September at Snoqualmie Falls, just east of Seattle. I am incredibly excited about it. I love every wedding I shoot. I sent a questionnaire to the couple this afternoon through the mail. I want to get to know them on a more personal level before their engagement shoot in May. This morning, I woke up at 4 am because my pulled rib muscles were hurting too much to be able to sleep... (I recently had a horrible cold/flu that turned into pneumonia, but thankfully I was able to get antibiotics soon enough to take care of it before it turned dangerous... My cough was bad enough to cause me to pull muscles in my ribs... not at all pleasant, but I am surviving). I got out of bed around 4:45, and decided to type up a letter for the couple giving them some directions for their questionnaire. As I looked over the questions, I realized that I should probably let them know a little more about who I am, and how I became a photographer... so I just started typing. This is what I shared with them.
{a girl + a camera}
Who are you?
My name is Marika Katti Garland. I am a 27 year old photographer living in the beautiful town of Anacortes, Washington. I grew up in La Conner, Washington in a house my parents built on the beach in the early 1980s. My dad's family is from Huntington Beach, California and Iowa. My mom's family is from Los Angeles and Finland. My first and middle names are of Finnish origin. When you put them together (Marakatti) they translate to Capuchin Monkey.
I have four loves in my life. Number one is my amazing boyfriend, James, who has been one of my biggest supporters during my journey as a photographer. We became friends five and a half years ago, when I started taking photos of his band. We were friends for the next four years, and one year ago we took that friendship and turned it into the most amazing love. I am truly blessed to have him in my life.
Numbers two and three (in no particular order) are my dogs, Kerouac and Cohen. They are Siberian Huskies. They are the light of my life, and have been two of my greatest models for photography.
Number four is my photography. It is my heart and soul, and everything that I breathe.
How did you become a photographer?
When I was nine years old all I wanted was a camera. I don't remember the exact moment I decided I wanted one, but I remember how badly I wanted to capture the world around me. My first camera came for Christmas that year. It was a small black plastic film camera. I don't remember the make, or if it had a flash. I can still recall its smooth surface, and the "click click click" sound it made as I advanced the film after taking a photo. I still have boxes full of negatives and prints from that camera. I think it was the concept that I could freeze the world around me, and hold onto it forever that made me fall in love with photography as a child. So many things change so quickly when we are young, and I guess photographing the little things was my way of telling life I wasn't going to let it slip by unnoticed.
My mother bought me my first SLR (single lens reflex) camera when I was a Senior in high school for my black and white photography class. I tried to get into the class every semester of high school, but didn't get in until the beginning of my Senior year. I am so thankful for having the opportunity to learn the basics of film photography at a young age. Every photographer should experience the beauty of unrolling a roll of film you shot and processed yourself. The first time you watch your image appear on a piece of paper in a developing tray in the dark room is like watching new life coming into the world. You will never forget it.
After high school, I didn't do much with photography until I was 20. I picked up my slr and started shooting again for a few months. Sadly, my slr broke, and I didn't get it fixed. A year later, I purchased my first digital point and shoot camera. A lot of things had changed in my life in a year, and I was feeling the need to capture my world again. I started shooting everything around me, including myself. This is where my story telling began as a photographer.
Shortly after purchasing my little point and shoot, I took a photo of my brother's cat while on a walk. Six months or so later that photo was published in National Geographic Magazine in a new feature they were doing for readers submitting images based on a theme.
By the time the June 2006 issue of NGM came out, I had already purchased my first digital slr. I was shooting portraits of musicians, friends, live shows, and just about everything I could think of. I shot my first wedding in September of 2006. Although I was building a lot of experience shooting so many different things, I always felt a little incomplete... like I was missing something. I needed to go to photography school. I wanted to go to photography school.
In May of 2007 I drove out to Missoula, Montana to attend a one week Intermediate Photography Workshop at the Rocky Mountain School of Photography. Two days into the workshop, I signed myself up to stay for the Summer Intensive and Digital Intensive programs. I spent the next five months living, breathing, eating, and dreaming photography. It was the best summer of my life. I learned things about myself as a photographer, and as a person, that I do not believe I could have discovered anywhere else.
